Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1887-12-17
MECHANICAL.

46CMAN1CAEA
AN inventor has completed expert.
nents which, he asserts, show the pracr
lcability Of making stone type. They
are, Of course, OF large size, to substi-
lutte wood letters The material Is an
artificial stone, pressed into moulds,
and then hardened, afterwards being
polished on the surface. There viii Be
40 warping and no expansion or con-
traction. and each font will be exactly
the same as that preceding. This in
ventor predicts great future for the
material
Mr. L. p. WHITE, in q communities
tion to the Chemical Society gives .
decidedly negative answer to the ques-
lion whether the acids of canned fruits
may not form poisonous salts with the
tin. He reports, as the result of his
experiments, that the tin is entirely de-
void of danger when taken internally
IN any form that might arise from being
in contact with fruits and vegetables
He balieves that the cases of accid entail
poisoning attributed to tin were due to
solder or other impurities, arsenic,
copper, or lead. Prof. w. Mattieu
Williams says that there need be no
lead in the solder, that it is only put in
TOR cheapness sake, and that tin makes
: superior solder to any alloy. There
fore, all danger may be obviated by
prohibiting the use of any other solder
than pure tin.
AN open gas fire radiator has just
been introduced in London. It con-
sists of fire box with front and bars
Of pleasing design. The interior of the
fire space is filed with q coil of pipea
to serve as boiler for heating the
radiator on the principle of low-press-
ure circulation. The coil is not seen,
being covered with asbestos. There
are two flows and two returns from
this coil. The radiator is formed of
top and bottom boxes, cast and cored
with chamber throughout, and holes
to receive the upright columns. A
vase is placed on top for charging with
water. The gain here obtained is
equal to the exposed area of the radia-
tor, plus the amount of heat extracted
from the interior of the fire. Chimneys
are dispensed with, q small pipe to
carry off the fumes only being neces-
sary.
SOME idea of the extent to which
mechanical ingenuity and efficiency
have advanced may be had from the
following statement: "It is now pos
sible to construct a complete sewing
machine in minute, or sixty in one
hour; reaper every fifteen minutes, or
less; 300 watches in day, complete IN
all their appointments. More inn
portant than this even, is the fact that
it is possible to construct locomotive
IN day. From the plans of draughts-
man to the execution of them by the
workmen, every wheel. lever, valve
and rod may be constructed from the
metal to the engine intact. Every rlvet
may be driven in the boiler, every tube
in the tube sheets, and from the smoke
stack to the ashpan, locomotive may
may be turned out in working day,
completely eqipped, ready to do the
work of a hundred horses" Without
such machinery and the skilled labor
to operate them, the civilized world OF
to-day would be an impossibility.
GLASS, porcelain. and metals can be
soldered j. is said, by an alloy made
thus: Copper dust, obtained by pre-
cipitation from solution of the sui
phate by means of zinc, is put in cast
iron or porcelain-lined mortar and
mixed with strong sulphuric acid, spe-
cifc gravity 1.85. From twenty to
thirty or thirty-six parts OF the dust
are taken, according to the hardness
desired. To the cake formed OF acid
and copper there is added, under con-
slant stirring, seventy parts mercury.
When we'll mixed, the amalgam is care
fully rinsed with warm water to re-
move all the acid, and then set aside to
cool. In ten or twelve hours it is hard
enough to scratch tin. When required
for use it is to be heated so hot that,
when worked over and prayed in
mortar, it becomes as soft as wax. In
this ductile form it can be spread on
any surface, to which it adheres with
great tenacity when it gets cold and
hard. This alloy is intended to be used
to solder such articles as will not bear
high temperatures.